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Hi, My Daughter Is 10 Years Old, And Was Diagnosed

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Posted on Sun, 21 Oct 2018
Question: Hi, my daughter is 10 years old, and was diagnosed with Selective Mutism when she was 4 years old. Her doctor, after much trying to do only therapy (without medicating her), it was decided to put her on Prozac. She did wonderful on this medication, and took it until she was 8 years old. She was weaned off, and began to have OCD symptoms after a few months of being off of it. We went back to the same doctor whom also works with children with OCD, ect. and she said that Prozac happened to be the medication that is mostly used for children with OCD, so she was put back on the Prozac, and did great with it again (she takes 1 X 10mg per day. We moved to FL Dec 2016 while she was still taking it. She was weaned off of it again a few months ago. She went a few months without any medication, but the OCD was really getting hard for her, so I made a decision to put her back on the med, intending to keep her on it. It was only about 2 weeks ago that she started taking it again. Yesterday evening she started having hallucinations, and again today. I tried asking her how long this has been going on, and she seemed to understand that these hallucinations were not real, as she said that she felt like she was "crazy" but she seemed to go in & out of them. During one she said that Ursula (I believe she is the bad/witch from The Little Mermaid movie), and she said that Ursula keeps pulling on her feet, and it was really bothering her, and she wanted her to stop. I asked her if she ever sees anything that is not really there, and she said yes, she sees Ursula's eye, and she sees blood & guts coming out of her knee caps. I know it doesn't sound like it, but she is actually a very sweet, kind, and NON-violent little girl, I have just NO idea at all why or how her little mind is thinking these things up? I am planning to call the doctor that last prescribed her, BUT this last time around that I started giving the med to her, I had 2 refills left from her old prescription which I got filled, and planned to take her up to Philly (which is where her Dr. is that actually prescribed her) in the next couple of weeks. But when this started yesterday evening (and it definitely got worse today) I started looking up online "children taking Prozac & schizophrenia" and based on what I am reading I am thinking that possibly this is a side effect of the med? But she was on it for years, with no problem what so ever. Is it possibly and/or likely that she could now have this side effect since started she the med back up ~2 weeks ago (even though she was perfectly fine on it for over 3 full years before she just started it back up)? If it is likely that this is being caused by the med, do I take her completely off of it as of tomorrow, or is it absolutely necessary to wean her off? I would appreciate any response that I can get. I do plan to call the Dr. that had prescribed her, but I do not believe that she works with this type of mental illness, and I am just wanting to make sure that the right decision is made as to if/when to take her back off of the med, as I am not sure this even has anything to do with the med. This last 2 days has been very hard on her, this just came on so incredibly fast. Thank you, I am very much looking forward to hearing back, and I apologize this message was so long.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Arun (1 hour later)
Brief Answer:
Yes could be due to Prozac

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for writing to us.
Prozac ( fluoxetine) is the commonest used drug for OCD. It is known to cause dreams, insomnia, etc.
I think what your daughter is having is due to the side effects of this medicine, not schizophrenic symptoms.
It usually lasts for a few weeks after initiating treatment, so
1. Continue Prozac as these terrifying symptoms will settle soon.
2. Don't stop medicine as it can cause withdrawal symptoms.
3. Try giving medicine the first thing in the morning. This might reduce her hallucinations.
4. Do consult your regular doctor and follow up regularly.
Regards
Dr Arun
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Kampana
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Arun (24 minutes later)
Ok, thank you for your answer & information. I wrote so much in my message that I just want to make sure that this part came through correctly: this time around, she started taking the medicine a couple of weeks ago, with no problems at all. This seems to have started out of the blue late yesterday, and she was then much worse today (but it seems to come & go). She was also on the same Med for over 3 years, with no problem at all. So even though she started taking it 2-3 weeks ago, and was perfectly fine up until yesterday, it could technically still be a side effect? I just want to make sure that you understood what I was trying to explain. Thank you again for your help, I just want to make sure that I do the right/best thing for her.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Arun (10 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
Yes it could be

Detailed Answer:
Yes, I understood your full question.
It could be possible that the symptoms have started this time even if she was symptom-free when she had taken it for 3 full years.
Body metabolism and maturing nervous system may react differently to the same medicine when she is growing up.
Coming to your second point, why she didn't develop in the last 3 weeks of initiation, it is absolutely possible... for drug levels to build up and reach a stable level and side effects to start...
Don't worry, hopefully, these symptoms will decrease in the next few weeks, if not you need to consult your doctor.
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Kampana
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Answered by
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Dr. Arun

Pediatrician, Pulmonology

Practicing since :2003

Answered : 1959 Questions

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Hi, My Daughter Is 10 Years Old, And Was Diagnosed

Brief Answer: Yes could be due to Prozac Detailed Answer: Hi Thanks for writing to us. Prozac ( fluoxetine) is the commonest used drug for OCD. It is known to cause dreams, insomnia, etc. I think what your daughter is having is due to the side effects of this medicine, not schizophrenic symptoms. It usually lasts for a few weeks after initiating treatment, so 1. Continue Prozac as these terrifying symptoms will settle soon. 2. Don't stop medicine as it can cause withdrawal symptoms. 3. Try giving medicine the first thing in the morning. This might reduce her hallucinations. 4. Do consult your regular doctor and follow up regularly. Regards Dr Arun